U.S. State Department releases the 2010 Trafficking in Persons report – a globally recognized evaluation of what countries are doing to combat human trafficking and help its victims.

The current and 10^th report represents a significant milestone by including a full evaluation of the U.S.

“The Report, for the first time, includes a ranking of the United States based on the same standards to which we hold other countries. The United States takes its first-ever ranking not as a reprieve but as a responsibility to strengthen global efforts against modern slavery, including those within America. This human rights abuse is universal, and no one should claim immunity from its reach or from the responsibility to confront it.”

– Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Human trafficking is a crisis that is tearing apart the lives of children and adults around the world. There is still much more to do and we hope to see the U.S. government significantly step up its anti-trafficking efforts and support for victim services across North America and the world.

U.S. State Department Report Page

Artist & Celebrities Take on Modern Day Slavery

We interview Michael Angelo to get his insight on the making and launch of his groundbreaking exhibit.

Michael Angelo at the opening for The Lipstick Portraits

Photographer and beauty expert Michael Angelo, whose Wonderland Beauty Parlor in New York is an icon in the industry, is a long-time advocate for victims and survivors of human trafficking.

To raise both awareness and funds for the cause, Angelo has created a series of striking and provocative portraits that stand in solidarity with those enslaved by the sex trade, known as The Lipstick Portraits.  He was inspired to create these portraits after reading Mariane Pearl’s description, in Glamour, of Cambodian sexual slavery, in which red lipstick can be understood as a mark of a girl’s enslavement.  Angelo later traveled to Cambodia, where he met Somaly Mam and visited the shelters that she established for girls rescued from the brothels.

Recruiting some of the most outspoken and extraordinary people that he knew, including Susan Sarandon, burlesque star Dita Von Teese, actor Alan Cumming, Cambodian Parliamentarian Mu Sochua, and Somaly Mam herself, Angelo created these portraits to call attention to the scourge of sexual slavery. In the series, the red lipstick is symbolically transformed from a tool of cruelty and slavery to one of solidarity and empowerment.

The Lipstick Portraits exhibition opened to the public on May 8 at 401 Projects in New York.  Pictures of the event can be found here.  Throughout the month of May, the exhibition drove public awareness around the issues and received outstanding reviews and coverage from the media, including Vogue Italia, Change.org’s End Human Trafficking blog, Marie Claire, The Daily Beast, and NPR.

In addition to raising awareness, Angelo is also generously raising funds for the Somaly Mam Foundation.  100% of the proceeds from the sale of The Lipstick Portraits prints, exhibition catalogues, and t-shirts will benefit the Somaly Mam Foundation.

We spoke with Michael Angelo about The Lipstick Portraits, the meaning of beauty, and his mission to help end human trafficking.

We’ve seen the extensive media coverage that the debut of The Lipstick Portraits received.  How does it feel to have your work and its bold messages embraced by the media and the public?

It feels fantastic and validating. It was a really risky idea. For as many yeses as I received regarding participation and support, I received 10 nos. Of course, that makes one second-guess oneself, and it’s really incredible to see it complete and, ultimately, well-received.

As The Lipstick Portraits demonstrates, you are an accomplished photographer in addition to being a leader in the beauty industry.  What role do you see each playing in furthering your efforts to end human trafficking and sexual slavery?

Both have been incredible tools of communication for me. When I’m working behind the chair as a hairstylist, I have the incredible opportunity to have someone’s ear for as long as two and a half hours. It is a great opportunity to plant seeds and share ideas. When I learned that there were vocational training programs in the field of beauty, I saw a much more literal way for me to use those skills to help. With regard to photography, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, and so, for me, using photography was a way to boldly, clearly, and succinctly express all of the ideas that were rolling around in my head. When I looked at the amount of press around The Lipstick Portraits, I realized that I’d started an engaging dialogue about the subject of trafficking, forced prostitution, and slavery in a way that I hope is accessible and engaging.

You’ve said before that these portraits were inspired by an article written by Mariane Pearl in which she describes witnessing very young, made-up girls outside of brothels in Cambodia – the bright red lipstick representing their slavery and stolen childhood.  How have your experiences in Cambodia, and with the cause of human trafficking in general, affected your perspectives of beauty?

Funny, beauty…It is such a tricky subject…unlike fashion, which is, by definition, a totally superficial thing. Beauty is different. We are sold ideas and ideals about beauty that are really much closer to fashion. Beauty is so complex. It’s this combination of aesthetics and intelligence and spirit that I personally think equals beauty in its most legitimate sense. It is so often that I have someone come into Wonderland thinking that we sell beauty. But that’s simply not possible. When I work with Somaly and the girls in the shelters, salons and vocational schools I see so much beauty all around. Beauty in the work, healing and growth of these young women. Beauty in seeing the girls cut and color hair. Applying makeup to one another, and learning makeup applications which enhance their features and skin, as opposed to using makeup to make themselves. I suppose to summarize I’d say that through my work with Somaly, I have seen and learned that the “fashion” side of beauty can really be put to great use, and ultimately bring about a beauty that is more than skin deep!

Do you have a story that you can share with us about recruiting your subjects?

I think the most interesting thing about recruiting was that it was a real exercise in humility. I had to learn to accept “no” from people, even if I didn’t like their reason for not wanting to participate. One person told me she wouldn’t participate because she didn’t like the way she looked in red lipstick. It took everything in my power not to shriek at her, “Neither does an eight year-old girl in a cage in a brothel. That’s really not the point.” On the other hand, it was incredibly inspiring to see how many people were willing to lend their image and their reputation to such an important cause. There’s really nothing more beautiful than seeing people band together to help fight this crime against humanity.

You have devoted significant personal time and resources to fighting the scourge of child prostitution and human trafficking, taking both your “heart and hands,” as Somaly Mam often says, to create change. Did you ever hesitate and question the impact that you could have? What advice do you have for other artists and supporters who are thinking about using their talents to support the cause?

About a million and one times throughout the process. It was exhausting. It was frustrating. I had to learn things every day that were not in my field of work. I had to learn how to wrangle a celebrity. I had to learn how to put together a press release. I had to beg, borrow and steal to get this done on a shoestring budget. I had to deal with friends and family and co-workers who were frustrated with my absence. But you know what? I am now able to do more than ever before. I have received notes from people around the world telling me that I inspired them to try something new to help with a cause dear to them. I have been to Cambodia and learned more about world history than I ever would have if I were standing behind a chair doing hair all day. I have established an incredible network of friends and family. I found true love. I got engaged in a rice paddy. So the advice I would give to anyone who is willing to use their tools of self-expression to make a difference in the world is “Don’t give up the fight. It’s not going to be easy, but the most important things in life aren’t.”

Two Connecticut teachers experience a transformation in the classroom that is helping women and girls around the world. They tell their story, read on!

Revolution is never easy, yet it’s worth the energy.  Woodland for Women Worldwide, our grassroots organization that is fighting to end the oppression of women, was created by a perfect storm of ideas, energy, and inspiration.  Initially our idea was to develop a course that was more suited for our students who will inevitably face the challenges of solving global economic, political, social, and environmental problems.  So after much discussion we designed Contemporary World Issues (CWI), a model United Nations course that not only examines global conflicts but asks students to recommend solutions.  After reading Somaly Mam’s Road of Lost Innocence, we knew that human trafficking -the blight on humanity- needed to be our first unit.  In response to what students learned in class, they would ask, “How can people do such things?  Especially to children?” and “Why is human trafficking allowed to happen?” The prophetic question that was asked most repeatedly was “What can we do about it?”  In CWI we exposed our students to an academic examination of the perils of our time, but our students were not content with simply learning about human trafficking, they needed to take action.  So we formed Woodland for Women Worldwide.

The energy to form Woodland for Women Worldwide came from a coalition of these committed students, along with teachers, staff and community members.  At our first meeting we adopted the adage from Zainab Salbi, “One woman can change anything, many women can change everything” as our mantra.  Our collaborative energy was illuminated at the Run for a Revolution on May 22nd, our culminating fundraising event.  We assembled as if we were a completed mosaic in which each piece was a member that brought something different: a student charged with new vigor to take on the world’s injustices; a teacher facilitating creative ideas, or managing race-day logistics; or a community member bringing invaluable outside resources that would otherwise not be provided.  AnnaLynne McCord, actress and activist, became the final piece of our mosaic and made an indelible mark on our students when she joined us at the Run for a Revolution.  In a single line of her heartfelt speech, AnnaLynne expressed this year’s journey for Woodland for Women Worldwide, when she said, “The potential of greatness cannot be reached when attempted alone.”

As educators, it’s no surprise that our inspiration to form Woodland for Women Worldwide came from books.  While watching the Oprah Winfrey Show one afternoon last fall we learned about one such book that would change the course of our lives.  It was our “Aha” moment!  Featured guests, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, authors of Half the Sky, appealed to us with their thesis that the way to solve the enduring global problems of poverty, disease, terrorism, illiteracy, and violence is to invest in girls and women.  We immediately ordered two copies of Half the Sky and within days we were emotionally enveloped in the adversity and inspiration that defines the lives of the women, such as Somaly Mam, that were featured in their book.   We knew at that point that Woodland for Women Worldwide would devote its efforts to the Somaly Mam Foundation and the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), as well as establishing a scholarship fund at our school to empower girls to become leaders of change and graduates to volunteer in developing countries.

We were alight with excitement when we had the opportunity to meet Somaly Mam and Nicholas Kristof at the Bay Path College’s Women’s Leadership Conference.  We felt what most young kids must feel when they get to meet a superhero.  Somaly Mam, to us, has supernatural powers.  Surely it takes strength and courage beyond what is humanly possible to return to Cambodia to face the same people that tortured, raped, and abused her in order to save others.  This is exactly what Somaly Mam does.  After escaping slavery herself, she risks her life and freedom to save others.  So when we met Somaly Mam we wrapped our arms around her, as if to affirm for us that she was in fact real, that she was not a myth-like superhero and that her courage was true.

Dante said, “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality.”  Today’s moral crisis is the many abuses and violations that women face around the globe.  Nicholas Kristof called this moral crisis, the oppression of women, the civil rights crisis of the 21^st century.  Woodland for Women Worldwide pledges to never shelter ourselves under a blanket of neutrality and blissful ignorance.  Rather, our mission is to bring awareness and action by following in the fearless footsteps of our heroine, Somaly Mam.  The name of our first annual fundraising event, the Run for a Revolution, was chosen deliberately.  The time to change the subjugation of women in the world is now; it is time for a revolution!

As the World Cup nears – and with it, an expected increase in s*x trafficking – South Africa is taking long-overdue steps toward passing the country’s first law that would make human trafficking a stand-alone crime, punishable by life in prison.  The law also creates provisions to care for victims of trafficking and guards them against deportation, according to the Associated Press.

The law will be too late for thousands of young women and children who have already suffered as s*x slaves, many of them HIV positive.  Time Magazine reports that an estimated 38,000 children are trapped in South Africa’s s*x trade by more than 500 criminal trafficking syndicates that work with South African recruiters and corrupt officials.  Already, traffickers have seen an increase in demand from the influx of workers into South Africa as part of World Cup preparations.

South Africa’s failure to adequately address human trafficking for purposes of both the s*x trade and forced labor has come under closer scrutiny as the international sporting event approaches.  S*x tourism has increased over the past decades, and South Africa has grown to become a source, transit, and destination country for traffickers.  It is currently on the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Tier 2 Watch List because it has not met the minimum standards required to eliminate trafficking.

The country is, however, taking steps to bring this crime out into the open, where it belongs.  Carol Allais of the University of South Africa recently completed a study on trafficking in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, and Lesotho that was commissioned by South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority.  The first comprehensive investigation of human trafficking in South Africa, the report concluded that trafficking is a huge problem and affects thousands of people.  However, Allais and her team of researchers also reported that their ability to investigate was severely limited by the regional governments – many do not collect any sort of data on human trafficking, and some refused to allow the team access to officials who deal with trafficking.

Additional efforts are being made by both private and public entities to prevent the proliferation of s*x trafficking.  Churches in Africa have organized to educate their parishioners about the crime, and to be on the lookout for suspicious situations.  Schools are teaching their children how to protect themselves from traffickers.  The South African Government has collaborated with UNICEF to create Child Protection Week, and to establish several “child-friendly spaces,” where families with children can watch the games on big screen TVs for free, and children can play under the supervision of trained volunteers.

In addition, The International Organization on Migration (IOM) recently launched a campaign against trafficking called “The Campaign to Drop Sales.”  Now, conspicuous yellow posters with a hotline number to report trafficking, and proclaiming the horrifying fact that 4 million people disappear every year, forced into labor and prostitution, can be found all over South African cities.

If efforts such as these can make an impact on the crowds expected for the World Cup in South Africa, traffickers might not see the increase in demand that they currently predict.  With thousands of eyes alert to suspicious activity, many more women and children might be rescued from the chains of modern day slavery.

Sokkhy and VFC team going to English class (Sokkhy far right)

Sokkhy, a new Voices for Change Team member, tells us about joining the team and her outreach work at the shelters helping new survivors become self-confident and empowered young women.

My name Srey Sokkhy, 26 years old, I was born in Sandan District, Kampong Thom Province.

Today, I live in Phnom Penh city and I do happy that I had been to be a VFC team. Our VFC team, is work to change some things bad to be a good things and we want to show/share about victim’s feeling to all the peoples who living around the world to understand. Especially, you must be to know that victims, they don’t want to do that.

I am one of survivor but right now I am to be a member of VFC team, so I always go to meet and motivated to all the victims at the centers to be strong and try to learn all the best skills that center provided us. It is very important for our future so we must be strong and try for the future.

I do happy when I met with victims and listen all their problems that they told us and I can help, explain that I know and understand about your feeling because I am a victim too. When I went to meet with them, I always told them about my story. I saw them change their living and thinking to learning hard and they feeling warm after I talk and share my story.

Press Release:

PHILANTHRO PRODUCTIONS STOPS TRAFFIC

TRAFFIC Benefit Event for the Somaly Mam Foundation Event attracts Young Professionals to help halt sex trafficking

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (May 24, 2010) – Bay Area young professionals gathered at the Elbo Room in the Mission District of San Francisco on Saturday, May 22, to support Philanthro Productions’ latest event, TRAFFIC: A Benefit for the Somaly Mam Foundation.  The event raised over $4K for the Foundation, whose mission is to rescue and rehabilitate victims of sex-trafficking.

In true Philanthro Productions style, TRAFFIC offered a unique opportunity for young professionals to combine a night out on the town with friends and philanthropy. Over 230 attendees enjoyed a night of music by the lively band COLD SHOT while learning about Somaly Mam’s cause.  The event also featured a giveaway of fabulous prizes including Marie Louise skincare products, Melinda Mae 2010 Collection clutches, and Simi Winery wines.

During an intermission in COLD SHOT’s set, attendees watched a video telling the story of Somaly Mam, a survivor of sex trafficking, who founded this organization and has rescued over 6,000 women out of brothels and into new lives to date.

The money raised at TRAFFIC will make an impact for the Somaly Mam Foundation.  Here’s how:

Education: $20 per month provides an academic scholarship to a survivor of sexual slavery in South East Asia that covers school entrance fees, books, materials and a living stipend, laying the foundation for a survivor to build her career, play an active role in the local economy, and support herself.

Careers & Reintegration: $10 per month helps provide a survivor specialized training in weaving, sewing, salon or other vocational skills that will help her get a job and stay employed.

Health & Wellbeing: $30 provides an exam and blood test for a girl rescued from sexual slavery in South East Asia.

Psychological Counseling & Rehabilitation: $10 per month provides psychological counseling and rehabilitation to a girl at a shelter in South East Asia. Removing a child from a brothel is not a solution in and of itself- your donation will provide the support survivors need to recover.

About Philanthro Productions (www.philanthroproductions.org):

Philanthro Productions is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to get more young adults involved in charity by hosting first-rate events in partnership with leading nonprofits. Philanthro’s goal is to eliminate the trade-off for young adults between going out with friends and giving back by creating unique opportunities for charitable giving where there were none before. Two years after inception, Philanthro Productions has chapters in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego, which together have raised more than $185,000 for partner charities

The Somaly Mam Foundation welcomes Marilyn Garson as Director of New Business for the Foundation’s operations in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. As Director of New Business, Marilyn Garson will oversee all new business ventures for survivors of human trafficking, which include building and executing a rural microfinance initiative and continuing to generate business opportunities for survivors living in urban centers.

Marilyn brings with her over 20 years of experience in business consulting and development.  Marilyn works primarily with marginalized communities in post-conflict nations.  She comes to the Somaly Mam Foundation from Zardozi Enterprise in Afghanistan, where she directed a network of 1500 Afghan women to successfully market and sell goods produced at home in refugee camps and eastern Afghan villages.  In 12 countries, Marilyn has worked with NGOs needing to replace donor funds with market income.  In the private sector, she also conceived, launched, and directed Worldstock.com from 2001 – 2003, a division of Overstock.com. which imports and sells handmade global goods.  Marilyn has known Cambodia for 25 years, most recently directing Rehab Craft, an artisan NGO for Cambodians with disabilities, to financial independence.

Marilyn is the author of several business manuals including “How Can I Support Myself?” and a series of Khmer-language handbooks and trainers’ guides on creating viable micro-business.  She is the co-author, with Dr. KJ Wilson, of “From Income Generation to Business,” a draft manual for Afghan income generation projects in transition to business operations.  She holds a Masters degree in International Development from Melbourne University and a BA in Political Science and Philosophy from the University of Toronto.

by Bill Livermore

Dear friends,

Ending human trafficking, be it in a village, city, or the entire world, is and always has been the work of many.  From the Somaly Mam Foundation, to engaged governments, active law enforcement, and our NGO partners, it takes a coordinated effort to rescue survivors and help them transition to safe, healthy, and productive lives.

There is, however, another key participant that is every bit as important to the cause, you.  Our supporters, the general public – each and every one of us has the tools and a role to play in the fight to eradicate modern day slavery.

This principle guides the Somaly Mam Foundation and is why we have partnered with the Office of the Mayor of New York City on the landmark public education campaign, “Let’s End Human Trafficking,” which urges New Yorkers to “Know it.  See it.  Report it!”  The citywide campaign includes bus stop and subway ads that bring public attention to the reality of human trafficking in New York and provides the public and victims with immediate ways for them to get involved or find help.

Imagine how many people could be liberated from slavery if each and every one of us knew the signs to look for so that a potential victim can recognize a trafficker’s trap and people can identify and report suspected trafficking.  So often, it is the concern of a neighbor or chance acquaintance that begins the movement towards freedom for a victim of domestic or s*xual slavery.  In fact, you can read some of those stories on the Let’s End Human Trafficking website.  We can all help ensure that the Rule of Law is upheld.

We also recently launched the Somaly Mam Foundation’s Empowerment Line of survivor-made products.  These hand-woven scarves are created by survivors in Cambodia, where young women who have experienced the worst in human cruelty are taught marketable skills like hairdressing and weaving.

This month we take a closer look at the FIFA World Cup and what that means for our cause – the increase in trafficking of young women and girls to South Africa for the event, but also the ceaseless efforts of individuals and organizations who are committed, as we are, to combating and ending modern day slavery.  We share the inspiring story of Connecticut students and teachers who formed a group to raise awareness and funds for the human trafficking crisis – and then found themselves with a celebrity spokesperson!

If we are to realize our dream, it will take each and every one of us working together.  You, our supporters, are helping us move closer to a free, just, and empowered world through your efforts to raise awareness, lobby your governments, and to support our work through your donations and purchases of our Empowerment products.

Thank you for your unwavering support,

Bill Livermore
Executive Director, Somaly Mam Foundation

AnnaLynne McCord speaks at Run for a Revolution

Students in Beacon Falls, Connecticut have taken on human trafficking in a big way – by creating their own grassroots group, Woodland for Women Worldwide.

The group originated in a social studies class called Contemporary World Issues, which was going into its very first semester when Woodland Regional High School teacher Deb Flaherty decided to take a risk: instead of focusing on a less controversial issue like global warming, or globalization, she would teach the class on human trafficking.  As she told the Connecticut newspaper Citizen-Times, “It was a little nerve-racking to start with something as difficult to learn about as human trafficking…it’s something that you have to tread on carefully to teach, but at the same time, you can only sugarcoat so much. And I’ll tell you the response I got from students…it blew me away.”  The class became so popular, and students were so eager to do something about what they learned, that Flaherty and another social studies faculty member, Lisa Olivere, co-founded Woodland for Women Worldwide.  Now, the group has a highly active, passionate membership of students, faculty, and community members working together to improve opportunities for women everywhere.

The mission of Woodland for Women Worldwide (WWW) is “to provide support to non-profit organizations that work to free women from oppression.”  This year, they have chosen to raise funds for The Somaly Mam Foundation (SMF) and CAMFED, The Campaign for Female Education.  In addition, WWW has founded two scholarships for Woodland students: one for any female student attending a leadership conference, and one for any student who wants to volunteer in a developing country.

Olivere and Flaherty chose to support SMF and CAMFED after reading Half the Sky, by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.  Somaly Mam is one of the women profiled in the book, and after reading her story and the stories of other women who have devoted their lives to creating change, they say, “We knew at that point that Woodland for Women Worldwide would devote its efforts to the Somaly Mam Foundation and the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), as well as establishing a scholarship fund at our school to empower girls to become leaders of change and graduates to volunteer in developing countries.”  Olivere and Flaherty later had the opportunity to meet Somaly Mam at The Bay Path College Women’s Leadership Conference:

“Somaly Mam, to us, has supernatural powers.  Surely it takes strength and courage beyond what is humanly possible to return to Cambodia to face the same people that tortured, raped, and abused her in order to save others.  This is exactly what Somaly Mam does.  After escaping slavery herself, she risks her life and freedom to save others.  So when we met Somaly Mam we wrapped our arms around her, as if to affirm for us that she was in fact real, that she was not a myth-like superhero and that her courage was true.”

Read their full account about how it all came together

The young people at Woodland call WWW “an opportunity to put into action the concepts discussed in the classroom.”  One student leader, Sarah Hughes, said “Woodland is filled with students that want to do something…This organization actually gave us a way to do that.”

One way that they are taking action is by hosting the first Woodland for Women Worldwide Run for a Revolution.  The members’ enthusiasm attracted not only a great number of runners, but also the support of 90210 star AnnaLynne McCord, who has worked for years as a modern abolitionist.  McCord attended the race as spokesperson and was awarded Woodland for Women’s very first Heroine Award for her work to end human trafficking.  She even ran the 5K with Woodland students.  Proceeds from this year’s Run for a Revolution benefited SMF and CAMFED.

Through events like this one and its ongoing awareness campaign, this inspiring group of students and teachers is working to bring about a day when all women are free from oppression and empowered to succeed.

To learn more about Woodland for Women Worldwide, visit their website.